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Saturday, 14 June 2014

a more serious note

aldo bag; new look sandals; seiko watch

There are a few things that scare you when you're no longer a 15 year old fashion blogger. When I first started blogging, I made no intentions of directing my posts towards fashion and my sense of style was a middle ground between grandma-esque meets Polly Pocket. Part of that was due to a lack of fear of looking like an outcast (note I said 'lack' not 'non-existing'), another was the attitude of wanting to have some form of individuality with what I wore and plainly, it was the pocket money of a 15 year old which could not accommodate all the clothes I adored Blair Waldorf parading around the Upper East Side in. However that time, I blogged with an admirable absence of anxiety as my only intention was to make friends with other bloggers around the world who shared similar interests and I did. I looked up to Liebemarlene and Tavi Gevinson's Style Rookie as my blog idols and on a daily basis, I would read similar amateur bloggers, commenting my thoughts and sharing ideas. I built a network of blogger friends and blogging became a huge part of my life. That was my old blog and that was the old Nina.I took a break from blogging for 3 years and returned with this blog in the midst of 2013 with the hopes that I would have a more mature approach to it. Well that didn't work out.Maybe it was the fact that I was no longer a 15 year old. Or that fashion bloggers had revolutionised since 4 years ago. It was no longer about individuality or being creative and different. Or maybe it was always never about that, it just took a more mature version of me to realise that.I thought it would be easier when I return because I had still kept in contact with old bloggers and from years of constantly reading blogs that I enjoy, I had an idea of what I wanted the foundations of my blog to be based upon; Fashion and how it inspired me more than just being a form of apparel. This in my head was unique. This was new. It was exciting.Sadly, exposing myself to reading so many similar fashion bloggers I realised how much the community had grown and expanded within those few years I had left. Suddenly, I saw the flaw in the fashion blogosphere. Here we are, all of us wanting to show our 'distinct' and 'creative' ideas, representing how our style defines us as an individual. When in fact, we're all the same. And this frightening thought, keeps me up at night.

It's not scary enough to stop me from pursuing fashion journalism but it can sink low enough to question my worth in this field. I would never lose interest in fashion or refrain from it the way Tavi quitted, I just wonder if any bloggers out there ever reflected upon this. Sure the history, the fact that it's not the expensive piece of clothing by itself, it's the character the entire collection portrays and how all these garments were filtered and narrowed down to produce or just rebirth a trend is all so fascinating. And then there's that scene in The Devil Wears Prada, where Andrea ridicules fashion pointing out "they all act like they're curing cancer or something. The amount of time and energy these people spend on insignificant, minute details, and for what? So that tomorrow they can spend another $300,000 reshooting something that was probably fine to begin with to sell people things they don't need!".I could write a million volumes journaling these thoughts. But instead, I'd rather applaud at how these shoes worked so well with these printed pants.Florals in the spring/summer were sarcastically outcasted by Meryl Streep. I opted for an alternative with these baby blue leaves.Photo credits to Nai (thanks Nai!).

12 comments:

Ah, I definitely echo a lot of your thoughts and reflections. There are so many fashion bloggers out there, almost everyone focuses on the numbers, almost everyone is posting about the same things, and at the end of the day the world is still in shambles. I've definitely had my second thoughts about blogging, but I guess the fact that I incorporate social action into my blog and hearing people telling me that they are boycotting exploitative fashion companies definitely keeps me going and adds a bit of meaning for me. I guess you have to do whatever you feel makes it more meaningful, and at the end of the day be sure that you are blogging because it makes you happy, and that's really all that matters!